Category Archives: Politics

Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Hindutva Terrorism in Karnataka

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A Karnataka dacoit with links to a radical Hindu rightwing group has confessed to having carried out the Hubli district court bombing of May10, 2008.

The blast took place as the first phase of polling for the Karnataka Assembly elections was on – in a magistrate’s courtroom where cases against top SIMI leaders including Safdar Nagori were scheduled to be heard two days later.

(Dacoit with Hindu outfit links behind Hubli blast, Indian Express, January 13, 2009.) 

Does anybody remember the bomb blasts in Hubli (Karnataka, May 2008 ) courts last year when preparations were on for the coming state assembly elections? These blasts which took place on a holiday did not witness any casuality although they extensively damaged the court premises. But the most important part played by these blasts was the atmosphere it created in favour of the BJP.

As it always happens after any such mysterious sounding blasts, many innocents belonging to minority community were illegally detained and quite a few among them also were booked for their ‘role’ in the blasts. The police had promptly claimed that ‘sleeper cells belonging to LeT and SIMI’ had executed the blasts. Continue reading Hindutva Terrorism in Karnataka →

Government, Politics

The use of “Lese majeste” in Thailand against freedom of speech

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Lese majeste literally means an offense or crime committed against the ruler or supreme power of a state – or, in other words, the crime of dissent. In Thailand, this provision is routinely used to silence any form of criticism of the government.

A recent case that has been brought to our attention is that of Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn, from the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University. He is facing Lese Majeste charges for writing a book A Coup for the Rich, which criticised the 2006 military coup. He also wrote an article on the coup for Asia Sentinel. Others who have been accused of Lese Majeste are former government minister Jakrapop Penkae, who asked a question at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Bangkok, about exactly what kind of Monarchy they have in Thailand. There is also the case of Chotisak Oonsung, a young student who failed to stand for the King’s anthem in the cinema. Apart from this there are the cases of Da Topedo and Boonyeun Prasertying. In addition to those who opposed the coup, the BBC correspondent Jonathan Head, an Australian writer names Harry Nicolaides and social critic Sulak Sivaraksa are also facing charges. The latest person to be thrown into jail and refused bail is Suwicha Takor, who is charged with Lese Majeste for surfing the internet. The Thai Minister of Justice has called for a blanket ban on reporting these cases in the Thai media. The mainstream Thai media are obliging. Thus there is a medieval style witch hunt taking place in Thailand with secret trials in the courts.

A petition of protest in support of Giles is available here.

Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Chavez Expels Israel’s Ambassador, Becomes New Palestinian Hero

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Via Liberation News Service

Venezuelan leader accuses Israel of being ‘murder arm’ of US, says solution to Gaza crisis is in Obama’s hand.
Report by Anna Pelegri of Middle East Online – BETHLEHEM, 12 January 2009

Demonstrators in Yemen
Portraits of Chavez carried by demonstrators in Yemen

“Venezuelan flags and portraits of President Hugo Chavez have been flying high during protests in the West Bank against Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip”, says the report.

The report continues:

The Venezuelan president’s decision on January 6 to expel Israel’ ambassador from Caracas — the only country apart from Mauritania to take such a step — has made the left-wing South American leader a hero to Palestinians.

Hamas has welcomed Chavez’s “courageous decision,” while Hassan Nasrallah, head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, urged Arab states to follow the Venezuelan president’s example.

Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Identities, Politics, Violence/Conflict

ग़ाज़ा, इस्राइल और इस्राइल बनने की मंशा

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प्रणव मुखर्जी से किसी पत्रकार ने पूछा कि क्या भारत पाकिस्तान में वैसी ही कार्रवाई करेगा जैसी इस्राइल गाज़ा में कर रहा है. शुक्र है कि हमारे विदेश मंत्री ने  यह कहना ज़रूरी समझा कि इस्राइल की तरह भारत ने किसी और की ज़मीन पर कब्जा नहीं कर रखा है. इस सादे से तथ्य को कहना आजकल गनीमत है क्योंकि हमारे आदर्श बनते जा रहे अमरीका में फिलीस्तीनीयों को ही इस रूप में पेश किया जा रहा है मानो वे ही शांति से रहने वाले इस्राइलियों को चैन से नहीं रहने दे रहे. तो क्या यह मान लिया जाय कि हमारी याददाश्त भी ‘गजनी’ की तरह सिर्फ पंद्रह मिनट की रह गई है? क्या हम यह भूल गए है कि गाज़ा के उस पतली सी पट्टी में जो पिछले साठ  साल से पीसे जा रहे हैं वे एक ज़िओनवादी राज्य इस्राइल की स्थापना के लिए उनकी अपनी ज़मीन से उखाड कर फेंक दिए गए लोग हैं?

ग़ाज़ा पर इस्राइली बामबारी, सा�ार बीबीसी
ग़ाज़ा पर इस्राइली बामबारी, साभार बीबीसी

अगर हम साठ साल की बात को याद नहीं रखना चाह्ते तो क्या हम यह भी भूल गए हैं कि  अभी दो ही साल बीते हैं कि फिलीस्तीन की जनता ने हमास को चुनाव में बहुमत दिया था! क्या हमें यह भी याद दिलाना होगा कि हमास की चुनावी जीत को इस्राइल, अमरीका , युरोप और उनके पिट्ठू फतह ने मान्यता देने से इंकार कर दिया था?

एपी
बमबारी का एक और नज़ारा, तस्वीर: एपी

हमास एक आतंकवादी संगठन नहीं है, जैसा अमरीका और इस्राइल चाह्ते हैं कि उसे माना जाए, वह फिलीस्तीनी जनता का वैध प्रतिनिधि है. क्या चुनाव में उसकी जीत को मानने से इनकार  वैसा ही नहीं जैसा मुजीबुर्रहमान की जीत को मानने से तब की पकिस्तानी हुकूमत का इंकार ? उसका नतीजा था  पाकिस्तान का  विभाजन और बांग्लादेश के रूप में एक नए राष्ट्र का जन्म. यहां अंतर सिर्फ यह है कि हमास ने गाज़ा पट्टी पर संघर्ष के बाद नियंत्रण कर लिया. तब से इस्राइल के कहने पर अमरीका समेत पूरे विश्व ने हमास का बहिष्कार कर रखा है. क्या हम इसकी कल्पना कर सकते हैं कि भारत में भारतीय जनता पार्टी के चुनाव में जीतने के बाद उसकी राजनीति से असहमति रखने के कारण उसे मान्यता न दी जाए?

Continue reading ग़ाज़ा, इस्राइल और इस्राइल बनने की मंशा →

Left watch, Media politics, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Speech and silencing on the Right and Left

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Lasantha Wickrematunge, the courageous editor of Sunday Leader, a weekly newspaper from Sri Lanka, was recently assasinated by the Sri Lankan state. Relentless in exposing corruption and human rights abuses, he was fully aware of the price he would have to pay. In a stunning editorial that he appears to have written for publication in the event of precisely such an eventuality, and which was published after his death, he directly accuses the government of killing him:

“It is well known that I was on two occasions brutally assaulted, while on another my house was sprayed with machine-gun fire. Despite the government’s sanctimonious assurances, there was never a serious police inquiry into the perpetrators of these attacks, and the attackers were never apprehended. In all these cases, I have reason to believe the attacks were inspired by the government. When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.”

His words of farewell are defiant:

“If you remember nothing else, remember this: The Leader is there for you, be you Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, low-caste, homosexual, dissident or disabled. Its staff will fight on, unbowed and unafraid, with the courage to which you have become accustomed. Do not take that commitment for granted. Let there be no doubt that whatever sacrifices we journalists make, they are not made for our own glory or enrichment: they are made for you. Whether you deserve their sacrifice is another matter. As for me, God knows I tried.”

Meanwhile, in Nepal, the premises of Himal media were attacked by people identified as Maoist activists. Today the ‘bourgeois’ media, tomorrow – dissenting Left voices…?

Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Law, Politics, Right watch, Scams, Violence/Conflict

Guantanamo and Illegal U.S. Detentions: Time for Real Change

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[On the seventh anniversary of Guantanamo Bay, 11 January]

The United States detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – seven years old on 11 January 2009 – have become emblematic of the gross human rights abuses perpetrated by the US Government in the name of fighting terrorism. Though the U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to close down the Guantanamo Bay, there are undoubtedly substantial challenges to closing. Every day that Guantánamo is kept open is another day in which hundreds of detainees and their families are kept in the legal shadows. Distressing to the individuals concerned and destructive of the rule of law, the example it sets – of a powerful country undermining fundamental human rights principles – is dangerous to us all. It would be no less dangerous, and no less unlawful, if the USA were simply to transfer the problem it has created at Guantánamo to another locations.

Detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Detainees at Guantanamo Bay

The detention facility at Guantánamo Bay isn’t the only prison where the United States is holding detainees from the ‘war on terror.’ At Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, Camp Bucca and Camp Cropper in Iraq, and many more – some known and others secret – are used to detain those captured by the U.S. military. Camp Bucca alone has at times held 20,000 prisoners, most of whom live in groups of tents surrounded by wire. Most detainees are held unlawfully, without warrant or charge, and without recourse to challenge their detention. Even when Guantánamo is closed, the need to push for detainee human rights will continue.

Continue reading Guantanamo and Illegal U.S. Detentions: Time for Real Change →

Excavation, Government, Law, Politics, Right watch, Scams

Character builders of the nation

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‘Na Taala Toota na tijori, Phirbhi BJP Mukhyalaya se dhai karod chori.’
(Neither the lock was broken nor the safe, yet 2.5 crore Rs were stolen from the Party headquarters.)
– An SMS which was circulated widely in the journalist community.

What is the weight of Rs. 2.5 crore if one decides to have the whole amount packed in the denomination of Rs.1,000 notes ?

It is exactly 31 kilograms.

Please do not get surprised over my correct reply. I just wanted to share few details of the ‘theft’ at the headoffice of the main opposition party namely BJP which has appeared in different newspapers.

According to the treasurer of the party there is no cause of worry and once the ‘ankeshan” (auditing) is over then only something definite can be said about it. The latest news is that amount supposedly missing from the coffers has been reduced without any further explanation. Continue reading Character builders of the nation →

Debates, Everyday Life, Identities, Left watch, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

In Cold Blood: Abuses by Armed Groups

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India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Occupied Territories, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, USA, UK, Spain, the Russian Federation, to name a few, are a testimony to the cruel attacks on civilians and other human rights abuses in the recent past by non-state armed groups, including terrorist groups. They are showing utter disdain for the lives of civilians and others, continuing a pattern of serious crimes and crimes against humanity. They fail to abide by even the most basic standards of humanitarian law. The attacks and other abuses by armed groups are so frequent and the security situation so grave, that it is impossible to calculate with any confidence the true toll upon the civilian population, let alone the long term consequences that so many people inevitably suffer.

Continue reading In Cold Blood: Abuses by Armed Groups →

Culture, Everyday Life, Identities, Mirror Worlds, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Fight Terror – Stop Thinking

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Oxford Book Store in Mumbai was visited by a cop about ten days ago, and offered a friendly caution to be “careful” about stocking books and CDs related to Pakistan, as the shop might be “targeted” after the recent terror strikes in Mumbai.

Trick question: The reason the cop dropped in was

a) to reassure the store that they would receive police protection in case such threats materialize

b) to pass on a message from Raj Thackeray

(Hint. Looks like there are two options, but there is only one)

Continue reading Fight Terror – Stop Thinking →

Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Government, Politics

Army wanted Abdullah, who’s surprised?

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Ashish Sinha in Mail Today:

Any political decision on Kashmir — especially when the ball is in the Congress’s court — cannot afford to ignore the sentiments of lakhs of troops stationed here because, at least for now, they appear to be a more permanent fixture than any party, even the National Conference (NC). [Full text]

I told you so…

And Siddharth Varadarajan asks the right question:

But if these motives propelled the ISI to either mount or at best turn a blind eye to the Mumbai plot, why did the same agency — which essentially manages Rawalpindi’s links with militant groups active in Jammu and Kashmir — not seek to disrupt the assembly elections? [Here]

Frontiers, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Protests in Israel against Gaza Attacks

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We are all aware of the terrible toll of unarmed civilian casualties caused by the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) air strike on Gaza a few days ago. It demonstrates yet again the willingness of those who currently hold power in Israeli to sabotage the chances of a lasting and durable peace with the Palestinian people. There is no other way to describe these air strikes other than as acts of gross state terrorism. Bombing unarmed civilians from the skies, including children is not a solution or an answer to terrorism. It is terrorism.

Of course, Hamas, (which controls the West Bank, and whose origins lie in the cultivation by Israel of an ‘Islamist Opposition’ within the Palestinian ranks in the eighties and earlier ) with its own obduracy has contributed to the ‘blowback’ that holds the peace process in Israel-Palestine hostage to a never ending cycle of competitive retribution.

Continue reading Protests in Israel against Gaza Attacks →

Empire/ Imperialism, Identities, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

The Israeli Attack on Gaza: Chris Floyd

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Shock, Awe and Lies: The Truth Behind the Israeli Attack on Gaza by Chris Floyd

DEMONSTRATION IN TEL AVIV AGAINST THE ISRAELI ATTACK

The Alternative Information Center
Courtesy: The Alternative Information Center, photo by Meni Berman

Award winning American journalist, Chris Floyd, author of Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Regime, writes:

Here is a simple, stone cold fact. You cannot read or hear the truth about what is happening in Gaza from any corporate media in the United States. The only thing you will find there are regurgitations of Israeli spin, which are themselves only regurgitations of the kind of spin that American militarists have put on their own depredations — for centuries now….”
“This is of course a damnable and deliberate lie. Papers in Israel — in Israel, but not the United States — are reporting the truth: the murderous assault on Gaza was planned not only before the six-month ceasefire ended — it was planned before the cease-fire even took effect.

Read the rest of the post here.

Bad ideas, Genders, Government, Identities, Images, Media politics, Politics

Families and Dynasties, Lettered and Unlettered – Monobina Gupta

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Minister in the Rajasthan government
Golma Devi, Minister in the Rajasthan government

Guest Post by MONOBINA GUPTA

It is jarring, to put it mildly, that Times of India, a leading daily, engaged in a high-profile ‘Teach India’ campaign should publish a front page story mocking the unlettered. This story exhibits a strange callousness in its reporting about the very constituency of people the campaign is hoping to address…or ‘uplift’…
The story published in the TOI on December 20, smacks of arrogance as it speaks disdainfully of an unlettered woman legislator recently elected in Rajasthan’s assembly elections. Golma Devi, elected from the Mahuwa constituency is the butt of ridicule and lament in this article authored by P J Joychen. The author, it seems, cannot get over the fact that an unlettered person like Golma Devi has been elevated to the rank of a minister in the Ashok Gehlot government.

No, she is not a history sheeter; nor does she have a scam hot on her heels. She is nevertheless an offender – in the sense of ‘offending’ your ‘sensibilities’ – in the supercilious eye of the media; an object of ridicule. Her offense: her of lack of reading and writing skills.

Continue reading Families and Dynasties, Lettered and Unlettered – Monobina Gupta →

Culture, Debates, Excavation, Politics, Theory

John Milton Takes a Stand? Prasanta Chakravarty

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This is a guest post by PRASANTA CHAKRAVARTY

[Dissidence comes along with responsibility. If that sounds an utter sell out, one has to look back no further than the career and oeuvre of John Milton, whose 400th Anniversary is being celebrated around the world.]

Students of English literature usually do not prefer meddling too much with politics, especially if that comes in the way of appreciating the hermeneutics of the text, the lyricism set aside for the work of art. Sophisticated scholars have learnt to deftly negotiate and work with Marxism, new historicism and cultural criticism, without compromising on the finer points of close reading. They have also welcomed areas like textual studies and performance and newer genres like memoirs, broadsheets, travelogues, petitions, graphic fiction and so forth within the critical ambit with a careful eye that such forays do not destabilize the Great Book tradition. Students of politics and the political, on the other hand, have a certain distrust for soft aesthetic options. In one interesting recent interview, James Scott, who routinely uses Zola and Tolstoy in his classes and works, lamented in jest on his status at the Yale Political Science Department as an outlier, blaming it onto the ascendancy and monopoly of formal and rational choice models in the discipline.

Continue reading John Milton Takes a Stand? Prasanta Chakravarty →

Politics, Right watch

Welcome Mossad!

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The bloody terror attack in Bombay, which was supposedly directed by the dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba, has had an interesting fallout as far as Mossad – the notorious intelligence agency of Israel – is concerned. One finds its growing mention in the Indian media as well as polity as a role model supposedly for ‘being successful’ in ‘curbing the terrorist menace’ inside Israel.

Little did all such ignoramuses ranging from the Barkhas to the Arnabs bother to know the fifty plus year old trajectory of the organisation which is formally responsible for intelligence collection but basically engaged in counter-terrorism, covert operations and paramilitary activities and political assassinations.One could say that it is part of amnesia that none from the chatterati brigade wants to take a critical as well as dispassionate look at its ‘myth of success’ vis-a-vis the Palestinian militants nor do they want know the terrorist acts engaged in by the agency to stigmatise its opponents.

Continue reading Welcome Mossad! →

Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Identities, Politics

A cruel joke called elections in Kashmir

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The Indian media has been expressing surprise about the high voter turnouts in the Kashmir elections. The expression of surprise sounds genuine. I am not sure how genuine it is. Is patriotism coming in the way of truth? How can we not see what a Wall Street Journal reporter can?

In the village of Samboora, residents said that Indian Army troops went from house to house on Saturday morning, rounding up families and taking them to a polling station. As a reporter drove into the village Saturday afternoon, an army vehicle with several soldiers stopped by the walled compound of Ghulam Mohammad, pulling the 59-year-old retiree onto the road. Seeing a foreign reporter, the soldiers jumped into their vehicle and quickly drove off. “They asked me why I’m not voting, and I said that’s because I don’t like any of the candidates,” Mr. Mohammad said moments later. “They said, if I don’t vote, I’ll be sorry later.” [Must Read]

And wasn’t this predicted anyway? Didn’t we tell you about Gentle Persuasion? Oh, and they already know who the CM is going to be.
Bad ideas, Everyday Life, Government, Law, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Your Rights End Where My Terror Begins

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A phone in poll today on CNN-IBN’s Face the Nation:

Should human rights take a back-seat in favour of tougher terror laws?

65% say Yes!

Thus speaketh the great Indian middle-class- Enough is enough!

Continue reading Your Rights End Where My Terror Begins →

Law, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Let Us Not Forget – South Asia Solidarity Initiative

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Statement by the South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI) at ‘After Mumbai, Which Way Forward? A Public Dialogue’, City University of New York Graduate Center, New York, December 15th, 2008. Co-sponsored by The Center for Place, Culture and Politics, The Brecht Forum and SALAAM Theatre.

Let Us Not Forget

Like many in South Asia, we watched with anguish as nearly 180 people of different castes, classes, religions and nationalities lost their lives in the events in Mumbai that unfolded over several days. We mourn their loss in this large tragedy and condemn the perpetration of such terrible violence. We also express solidarity with those intrepid groups and individuals who have tirelessly sought to build deep-roots of social, political, economic and cultural understanding for peace and justice in South Asia.  At this moment, we call for reflection on recent histories of South Asia and the world.  Hence lessons may be drawn, collective action contemplated and spaces of hope created from the debris of despondency. Continue reading Let Us Not Forget – South Asia Solidarity Initiative →

Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Politics

Looking Kabul, talking Rawalpindi?

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Strategically speaking, that is. It is important to think this question through.

For one, there’s hardly anybody disputing that the Lashkar-e-Tayebba was behind the attack. Pakistan wants evidence, but doesn’t deny the LeT could be it. 

Parvez Hoodbhoy says in an interview:

LeT, one of the largest militant groups in Pakistan, was established over 15 years ago. It was supported by the Pakistani military and the ISI because it focussed upon fighting Indian rule in Muslim Kashmir. Today it is one of the very few extremist groups left that do not attack the military and the ISI; Continue reading Looking Kabul, talking Rawalpindi? →

Images, Media politics, Politics, Violence/Conflict

The Mumbai Terror Attacks: Need For a Thorough Investigation: RH

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This guest post comes from a friend who wishes to be known as RH

In all the confusion and horror generated by the ghastly terrorist attacks in Bombay, a dimension which has not received the attention it deserves is the circumstances surrounding the death of Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and two of his colleagues, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte. The major pattern of operations involved well-organised attacks on a few high-profile sites in Colaba – the Taj, Oberoi and Trident Hotels, and the less-known Nariman House – while a parallel set of operations was centred on Victoria Terminus or VT (now known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or CST) station, Cama Hospital and the Metro cinema, in the middle of which is the police headquarters where Karkare worked. The latter is an area where foreigners are much less likely to be found.

Why is a Proper Investigation Crucial?

Continue reading The Mumbai Terror Attacks: Need For a Thorough Investigation: RH →

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Culture, Debates, Everyday Life, Language, Media politics, Politics

The Battle of Mumbai

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Guest post by BALMURLI NATRAJAN, a member of the South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI)

The Battle of Mumbai did not begin on November 26, 2008. There was no clear beginning, regardless of what somnambulists who have just woken up, or saber-rattlers who have been sharpening their tools for a while, pronounce. Like all modern wars, it burst into public view over the internet, unannounced and in full-swing. Continue reading The Battle of Mumbai →